My $30 tarp failed in the rain, my friend's $80 one didn't. Here's what I found.

Last trip up near Lake Chelan we got hit with a 3 hour downpour. My cheap blue tarp from the hardware store let water pool in the middle and then drip right on my sleeping bag. My buddy had a polycro tarp with taped seams and it stayed drum tight the whole time, not a single drop inside. The difference was the grommets too, mine pulled out at 2 of the 8 corners before midnight. I checked the specs after, mine was 1.5 mil thick and his was 3 mil with reinforced corners. If you're buying a tarp for actual weather, skip the budget option and look for seam taping and corner reinforcement. Has anyone else had a cheap tarp fail at a bad moment, or do you swear by a specific brand?

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stellat462d ago

Did you check if the water pooled because of the grommets pulling or the material itself sagging? That's usually the first thing to fail on cheap tarps, no matter how tight you stake em.